LAS VEGAS — As often as not, fights with big hype end in letdowns.
The UFC light heavyweight title showdown between champion Jon Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier, however, lived up to expectations.
The duo engaged in a brutal showdown Saturday night in the main event of UFC 182 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But Jones (22-1) pulled away in the late rounds and handed Cormier (15-1) his first career defeat.
The judges’ scores were 49-46 across the board in favor of the champion. Jones, who has been champion since 2011, has defended his title eight times and has won 11 in a row.
“He’s only human,” Jones said. “He was undefeated, all the haters, all the crap he talked, it only motivated me.”
Jones took the opening round by mixing up his kicks, punches and elbows. Cormier rallied in round two, as he brutalized Jones with uppercuts in the clinch. Round three turned on an eye poke by Jones, which he could have been deducted a point, but wasn’t. Jones took control of the round once the fight was re-started.
The fourth round was the big turning point. Much was made about wrestling in the buildup, as the 35-year-old Cormier, of San Jose, was a 2004 Olympian; while the 27-year old Jones, of Endicott, N.Y., was only a junior college wrestler. But Jones took Cormier down three times in the round, then also got the best of him in round five.
The fight had a chippy ending. Jones pulled back and raised his hands before the round ended, then fired off a cutesy punch. Cormier responded with two punches at the horn, one of which may have struck referee Herb Dean.
It was an appropriate finish to months of heated rivalry. The two brawled during a press conference in August at the MGM, for which both fighters were fined by the Nevada Athletic Commission. The two sides camps also got into a hallway argument on Thursday, and the pair sniped at each other during a commission meeting Friday.
After the fight, Jones wasn’t about to pretend to be friends with Cormier.
“I’m sorry I’m being classless,” Jones said. “I do not like Daniel Cormier and that’s why I’m being this way.”
In the lightweight co-feature bout, Donald Cerrone of Colorado Springs stayed hot, scoring a one-sided win over San Diego’s Myles Jury (15-1). The judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board.
Cerrone worked several submission holds on the ground in the opening round. Jury was never able to get his offense untracked, and Cerrone turned up the heat in the final round to leave no doubt.
Cerrone had little good to say about his opponent after the bout.
“He said he was gonna push me for 15 minutes and all he ended up doing was run,” said Cerrone (26-6, 1 no-contest), who has won six fights in the past 14 months. “I come here to fight hard for the fans every time and put on an exciting show win, lose, or draw. Jury clearly had no intentions to fight tonight.”
In a lackluster middleweight affair, Hawaii’s Brad Tavares earned a unanimous decision over Denver’s Nate Marquardt. There was little action in the bout, but Tavares got the best of all of it, scoring a judo throw in the second round and landing solid leg kicks on the disinterested Marquardt.
The judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board for Tavares (13-3), who snapped a two-fight losing streak. Marquardt (33-14-2) has lost three of his past four.
Takasaki, Japan’s Kyoji Horiguchi (15-1) continued to build on his case for a shot at flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Horiguchi scored a patient, one-sided win over Louis Gaudinot (6-4, 1 no-contest) of Yonkers, N.Y. The judges’ scores were 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27.
Horiguchi spent most of the bout stalking Gaudinot, who has won just one of his past five bouts. Gaudinot didn’t seem overly interested in engaging, but when they did, Horiguchi got the best of things.
“I’m happy to win the fight but I couldn’t knock him out so I’d just like to say sorrry to the fans watching tonight,” said Horiguchi, who is 4-0 in the UFC.
In the main card opener, welterweight Hector Lombard (35-4-1, 1 NC) scored a methodical victory over Utah’s Josh Burkman (27-11).
Lombard, a 35-year old Cuba native now based in South Florida, stalked Burkman around the Octagon for the better part of three rounds. While Burkman, who was fighting in the UFC for the first time since 2008, landed several effective counters early on, his output slowed as the fight went on. Lombard responded with several heavy-handed combos and brutal leg kicks.
The judges’ scores were 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28 in favor of Lombard.
“He was running, he’s an awkward guy, to fight all he wanted to do was run. said Lombard, who has won three straight and four of his past five. “He came to survive, he didn’t come to fight.”